An abundance of punchy flavours, blended spices, fresh herbs and heat.
Even just the entrance to this venue gets you excited, housed in the beautiful, historic and heritage-listed Griffiths Tea building, filled with natural light, exposed brick, rustic concrete walls, electric neon signs and sassy soft pink chairs. For a building that had not been occupied for almost 30 years, interior architect George Livissianis worked absolute wonders with this huge space alongside entrepreneur Chris Lucas, who brought this vibrant restaurant to Sydney in late 2017 following the massive success of the brand in Melbourne.
A hub of activity from the moment you arrive, it's important to note that unless you are dining as a group of 6 people or more Chin Chin do not take evening reservations. So to beat the wait we arrived on a Saturday afternoon around 5pm for an early dinner and were lucky enough to be sat at their fabulous counter top where we could watch the talented chefs from high stools.
Chin Chin describe their menu as 'an overload for the senses, quintessentially Australian with a South-East Asian injection' and that's the reason it is hard to decide what to eat.
The easiest way to remedy this problem is to pick the 'Feed Me #1 The Classics' menu, which means Chin Chin select their favourite dishes for you, sharing style.
So let's take you through a few of the highlights, starting with their Crispy barramundi & green apple salad with caramelised pork, peanuts, chilli & lemongrass. A fresh, citrusy, crunchy and sticky salad, the sweet pork melts in the mouth and the tang of the lemongrass and apple pair beautifully with both the meat and the barramundi. This dish would certainly suit a light lunchtime bite too.
The Rendang curry of beef, cumin, coriander & toasted coconut is so well balanced and hosts an abundance of punchy flavours, blended spices and fresh herbs. Chin Chin really know their way around a curry and we cant wait to go back and try some others on this tantalising menu.
But there is one dish that is just too ridiculously delicious not to mention!
Chin Chin's Stir fry prawn, bug tail, egg noodle, garlic chive & hellfire chilli oil . The flavour of the oil has so much depth and boasts the ideal amount of warmth, this combined with the sweetness from the garlic it perfectly coats and elevates the taste of the buttery, tender egg noodles, rich bug tail and prawns.
The 'Feed Me' dishes kept on coming and each one was just as good as the last.
Be sure to take note of the fantastic wine list, including some lovely Riesling's and a great range of wines on tap. It is very easy to see that the wines on this list have been hand-selected with the upmost passion and precision to compliment the menu.
And when you just can't enough of this awesome place then how about buying their cookbook? Recreate your flavour filled experience at home to show off to your guests using recipes by Chef Benjamin Cooper, inspired by the occasions that make people want to cook.
Photos by - Chin Chin
Chin Chin Sydney
69, Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
Phone: 02 9281 332
Website: www.chinchin.sydney